The Priest

Chapter 1

My eyes opened after a surprisingly restful night. Usually, I have nightmares for a few nights in a row. But I found myself sitting up in my bed, stretching, feeling very rested.

There was a knock on my bedroom door, and my roommate Dorothy, peeked in.

"Hey, just making sure you're not dead," she exclaimed, "I didn't hear you cry out in your sleep last night!"

I chuckled, "Yeah, surprisingly I slept well! I figured since I'm nervous I wouldn't sleep well."

Dorothy grinned, "Girl you got nothing to be nervous about. It's a new church! I'm sure you'll make friends. Want me to do a calming spell or something for you?"

"Girl the last thing we need right now is for you to be burning paper in your room" I joked, making her laugh. For a Christian and a Wicken to be best friends/roommates, we made it work quite well.

I got out of bed and began my morning routine, a little earlier since it was Sunday. I have not attended church in years. I was never really the Bible-thumping Christain type. I did recently feel inside though that I needed to go back. Despite not really participating much, I did gain a lot listening to the homilies, and just being in the environment of God's house.

I got my shoes on, said goodbye to Dorothy, and left. I did invite her to come along with me, but she politely declined. Made sense, I didn't want her bursting into flames the minute we walked into the building.

It was about a 20 minute walk to the church. I didn't mind it, it was a cool fall crisp morning and I listened to my music the entire walk. Dorothy said she hoped I would make friends, but what I forgot to mention was I didn't want to make friends. I was more of an observer in large gatherings, and I liked it that way.

I approached the church to see people slowly filing in, and what appeared to be two ministers greeting everyone. I didn't want to make myself known, so I waited until a large group of people went through the door and followed them in, sneaking past the priests. The church hall was large, I could probably hear myself echo if I was by myself. I giant cross at the end of Jesus displayed itself, reminding all parishioners to be humble.

I found my seat and waited for the service to start. A few parishioners around me said hello to each other. I could of them made eye contact with me since I was sitting away from everyone else and alone. They smiled, and I only just nodded back, keeping my hands in my coat pockets.

The music started and we all stood. I turned to watch the march down the aisle. The first priests, well actually, he appeared to be more of a deacon, was carrying the bible. He looked to be about middle aged, and really into his role. Closed eyes, singing along, damn, he was loving thatr positon. Props to him.

Behind him, was the priest. He looked to be, oh man, I'm not good with age guessing, maybe late 40's , early 50's? He had grey hair, but was really making it work. He looked like he could do an add for Just for Men. I was slightly impressed. Usually, most priests I had in my old churches were much older. We're talking 75 and up. Nice to see some young blood in this church.

"Good morning church," The priest said, he had a nice voice. The parish responded while I observed. "Welcome to Holy Waters Church. This week our topic is, 'Jesus and Women', and how we can do better in making our parish feel more welcoming and equal for women."

Oh wow, I thought. Progressive church? I was growing more and more impressed. Where has this place been my whole childhood?

The service was lovely. I ended up really enjoying it. When it was time to receive communion, I chose to stay in my seat. I was still a little unsure to participate and just wanted to watch for now. A couple people looked at me for not going up, but I just remained watching the priest and deacon hand out the plastic bread pieces.

"As we close our service this morning, I just wanted to mention that I noticed a few new faces in here today," said the priest. "Welcome, we hope to continue seeing you, and feel free to say hello to us after the service."

They marched down the aisle as the closing song played. I continued looking straight ahead, but I thought I could feel the priest's head turn in my direction. The song ended once the priest and deacon left the building, and everyone began putting on their coats to leave.

I took my time, and wandered around the church hall to look at the paintings on the wall, displaying the crucifixion process. Once the crowd died down, I felt it was safe to leave.

"Hello there," I heard the familiar voice say. I turned to find the priest standing there talking to me.

"Oh, Hi," I said, and offered a small smile.

He extended his hand, "I'm Father Craig Mallard. I noticed you in the back of the church. You're one of the new faces."

I took the hand and shook it, "Yes, I decided to come check you guys out. I'm Rey."

"Rey, I like that name," he said, smiling. "I don't think I've met a Rey before."

I chuckled, "Mallard was it? I wonder how many jokes you get about ducks?"

He laughed, "Lots actually. They never get old though, I like them."

He seemed quite nice. I almost felt guilty about not participating in service, "I'm sorry I didn't come up for communion or anything. I was just sort of watching today."

"Oh that's not a problem don't apologize," he said, waving his hand, "We all have our own way of worshipping. If we all did the same thing, we wouldn't evolve and learn."

I nodded, almost excited that he said that, "Yeah, exactly!"

"I noticed you have a music tattoo on your arm there," he said, pointing to my right forearm which was painted in sheet music.

"Ah yes," I said, "I play guitar in a band with some friends of mine."

"No kidding!" said Father Craig, "We're actually looking for a guitar player for my service. We want to try a more modern music vibe. If you come next week, I can introduce you to Brad. He runs the church band."

Modern music? At church??? Okay, this place was officially too good to be true.

"Yeah! I guess I can try that," I replied.

"Wonderful," he said. His smile seemed so genuine, and comforting. The deacon approached us behind him.

"Father, we have a woman who would like you for confession," He said, then acknowledged me, "Hi, I'm Deacon Daniel."

I shook his hand, "Rey," I responded.

"I noticed you didn't come up for communion," he said, "Was everything alright?"

I found his response a little more....interesting...than Father Craig's. "Yeah, I was just watching."

"I see," he said with a neutral tone. Father Craig put a gentle hand on his arm and began to walk away, taking Deacon Daniel with him, "Thank you Dan. It was nice meeting you Rey. Hope to see you next week," and he left.

I watched him leave, and felt more comfortable than I expected. This guy seemed to be changing the ways of church, and I was interested in seeing how far he was going to go.